Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) (8 page)

He led her to his bedroom door. Sure, he’d skipped the four bathrooms and the other bedrooms. There were seven in all, and he didn’t have that kind of patience just now. Even though the stairs were right next to his rooms, he didn’t take her up to the third floor where the servant’s rooms used to be.

They stood rooted to the spot in front of his bedroom door.

“And this is the master suite,” he said, throwing open the door, pulling her inside, showing her how two bedrooms connected through the closet.

“There’s enough room for a bed in this closet,” she said. She’d been strangely silent through the tour. Some people got that way when they saw the house. It really was a grand old place. Daniel was very proud of it. He wasn’t trying to flaunt his wealth. He loved this old pile of stones, not because it was a status symbol, but because it was his heritage.

“I’m overwhelmed.”

“There was something you wanted to tell me,” he said, confident she’d come about the loan. He hoped she wouldn’t think she had to sleep with him to get the money. “If it’s about the loan, my offer still stands.”

“No, it’s not that.” She seemed to be fighting an internal war, trying to figure out what to say or how to say it and saying nothing instead. So he kissed her.

Chapter Ten

Eva wanted, more than anything, to feel Daniel’s mouth on hers. His kiss deepened and her cautious thoughts swam away like little fishes. She didn’t care. The sweetest thing, more than burning, more than desire, was feeling this close, like she knew him down to her soul, or at least his kiss knew the primal spot sweet and low inside her, where she ached to connect with him.

In his arms, she was not unemployed, not in over her head, not a used and discarded thing. There was just now, here, in this bed that felt like it was made of clouds. And him. This man, his hands reaching up under her shirt to feel her skin, resting his hand for a tantalizing moment against her hopeful beating heart before sliding them slowly down her breasts and out of her shirt again.
Come back!
She wanted to moan, but then he began pulling her blouse buttons open and kissing her neck. She shivered.

He pulled away just a little bit and looked at her. “Cold?”

“No.” She pulled him back to her.

“Good.”

And it was. She needed someone. She’d pretended for a long time that she was done with men, but that was just her getting over Marcus. Time to start again. In every way. And she needed to start clean by telling Daniel what she’d come here to say.

She moved her lips from his, down to his shoulder, putting both hands on either of his hard biceps. He still reached for her when she spoke. “I’m not sure how this started,” she said, feeling embarrassed as he finally realized she wanted to talk instead of kiss. He lay there, his eyes smoldering and sexy, taking in every inch of her all unbuttoned and open. “I came over here to talk to you.”

“I like this better.” He moved closer, closed his eyes.

“No, really. I think I better say this before we go any further. You might get mad at me if I don’t tell you.”

“Nothing could do that.”

He said it, but she could see the gears turning in his mind. He was wondering if she’d blown it with the bungalow somehow. And maybe she did. But that wasn’t what she was here to say. Because really, she didn’t know those guys were bad at their jobs. She’d give them a little more time. And family was more important anyway.

“Tell me.” He took her into his arms and she put her head on his shoulder.

“I wanted to let you know that the roofer brought the builder over today and they made a start on the staircase to the second floor.”

Daniel had been kissing her temple, her eyelid, her cheek, but his lips froze in place at her words. He stopped kissing her, eased away a little bit, and listened.

“I showed them the blueprints, but they did not handle them. Nobody’s handled the originals but us. I told them I’d get them a set to work off of soon. And then I went to Port Huron and got the copies made.”

He took his arms away from her and lay face up on his pillows. She peeked up to see his reaction. His eyes were closed and he was quiet, but he nodded.

“What’s the builder’s name?”

“Sam something. I have his card in my purse.” She had no idea where she’d left her purse. Daniel didn’t move when she said the builder’s name, but she felt a gap widen between them. He was not happy, but neither was he going to put up a fight. He was going to let her do things her way. Now was probably not the perfect time to tell him the other news, but she felt she should. He had to know. “And Bob moved in.”

“What?” His head shot up from the pillows, he frowned at her, then got up from the bed, pacing the floor. She felt stupid on the bed alone so she got up on the other side. He continued pacing as she twisted the buttons of her shirt closed. She could tell from his pacing that he was not happy right now. Not one bit.

“He found this girl hitchhiking on the highway, and he moved her into a cottage and then took another one next to her. They didn’t ask me, they did the whole thing while I was getting the blueprints copied in Port Huron. He said he could oversee the cottage renovations better if he stayed on site.”

“So send him home.”

“I tried that already. I told them the cottages weren’t ready, that I wasn’t set up yet for other people living on the premises, that I didn’t have the cash to pay a maid. They stonewalled me every time. I had no idea teenagers could be so stubborn.”

“Welcome to my world.”

“So what else can I do?”

“Fire him.”

“I can’t! I need him. He’s working wonders on my cottages. They’ll be finished in another week or so.”

Daniel shook his head.

“Those cottages aren’t near ready for occupation yet!”

“I know. That’s what I thought, but Peach is all set; I checked it out before I came here. And Bob claims he’s got two more that’ll do for now. Apparently he outfitted them with beds and things from the rooms here.”

Daniel struggled to get his emotions under control. What they were exactly, she couldn’t say. So she guessed.

“You’ve been a father to Bob all these years. This must be so difficult. Or, maybe, is it the furniture?”

“It’s not the furniture,” he said. “I did the best I could, but apparently, it wasn’t good enough. I mean, he’s leaving in the fall anyway. Maybe I should just let him go.”

Great. Now the problem of what to do with the teenagers was back in her lap. She didn’t see a way out. “I am so not equipped for this.”

“It was the same for me. Not a choice. The situation was forced on me. Parenthood at twenty. I wasn’t ready for it. Maybe you never are.”

But she had been ready to have children with Marcus, who had grown children and had not been interested in starting a second family. Of course he hadn’t told her that. For years he’d let her believe in the possibility, listening to her talk about kids and family with an indulgent, pleasant look on his face. When pressed, he’d even say the word “someday” when she’d ask if he could see them having children together. Liar.

Eva and Daniel looked at each other over opposite sides of the bed. Something had almost happened here. Just minutes ago she would have sworn they had started a relationship. And maybe they still could. Maybe he’d stop pacing and start kissing again soon.

“My parenting days are almost over anyway.” He stopped pacing at the door to the bedroom. “So in a way, it’s a relief.” He started walking out of the room. She had no choice but to follow him down the stairs. Kissing over for now.

He stood at the massive front doors. Time for her to leave. “I love Bob,” he said, “and I don’t regret quitting school to raise him, but I’m so done being a dad.”

She sucked her breath in hard. His parenting days were over? As good as Daniel’s kisses felt, as fine and gentle as his hands had been on her skin, she had to stop this thing that had hardly gotten started. For her own sake.

Her mother had told her that life was like school, and if you didn’t learn your lesson the first time something went wrong, the world would just keep sending you the same lesson in a different situation. That felt exactly what was happening here. Same situation, different guise. And she’d learned her lesson well.

“By the way, Sam’s the town drunk.”

“What? Who?”

“Sam. Your builder. He’s the town drunk. He’s okay on a crew, at least until lunch, but he can’t do this himself. And a roofer won’t know how to cope with building your precious addition.”

That stung. She stood at the door, feeling as if he’d just slapped her. He opened one of the wide wood doors, saying
get out
without using any words. He didn’t know this, but inside, she was having mini-meltdown. First he’d gotten her into bed way too easily, and then shut off the love the minute he learned about the events of the day, as if everything was her fault. Okay, well the builder was her fault. But not Bob. That was in no way her fault or responsibility. She’d tried to tell him to go home. And right now, she was holding on to too many strands, every single one of them pulling at her, making her temples pound.

“I’ll just have to keep an eye on him.” She picked up her purse from where she’d dropped it on a table, doing her best to shake off her restless sadness. “I have to go. There’s still so much to do.”

“I don’t see how you’re going to have things ready by Memorial Day weekend.”

She started to walk away, but his words stopped her.

“I’ll have everything done. Don’t worry about me.”

Of course, the irony was that he wasn’t worried about her at all. He was worried about his precious Bryman legacy. And he’d dumped the problem of what to do with Bob and Lily right into her arms.

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, Eva came home after running around dealing with permits and licensing. When she pulled into Blue Heaven the driveway was empty of every vehicle except Bob’s truck.
Where had her crew gone?
It was two in the afternoon. They had better not be at Daniel’s museum.

Bob and Lily sat sunning themselves on old metal lawn chairs that had been stored in the shed for decades. They both had cans of beer in hand.

“Hello? You two are underage. Give me those!” she pulled the beers from their hands and poured them out on the still straw-like lawn. She didn’t like being a parent. It felt mean and bossy.

“Sorry. Sam gave them to us. Said it was about to rain, so the crew called it a day. We can’t paint exteriors in the rain.”

Eva scanned the lake. There were some black clouds scutting in the distance. “When did Sam start drinking today?”

“Well, he brought a case of beer at noon. It’s Friday. That’s sort of normal.”

Bob had the good grace to look sheepish.

“It’s not like we’ve never had a beer in our life,” Lily said. Eva noticed Lily was wearing her favorite hoodie. Cashmere. Lily noticed Eva notice.

“Oh, this. Sorry. I didn’t pack enough stuff. Hope it’s okay.”

“What? That you borrow my stuff or that you go into my bedroom, into my closet, without permission?” Eva was getting the hang of this parental thing. It had been easier to call Lily on the cashmere than the beer.

Then she noticed the roof. Or rather the absence of one. A flimsy piece of plastic flapped in the wind. It wouldn’t stop a teardrop let alone a rainstorm.

“My brother came by,” Bob said. Eva’s eyes stayed trained on her roofline. At least they’d only taken a piece of it off.

“Did he see this?” She pointed to the place where her roof used to be.

“Yeah. He was so angry about it he fired Sam.”

“What?” Eva couldn’t believe even Daniel would have the nerve to do that. As bossy as he was, he had to know this was her house, her project, her future. Not his.

“It’s okay,” Bob said. “He put the fear of God into Sam because of the drinking. Told Sam he was on probation. Told him he couldn’t work after drinking. Ever. And sent him home.”

“And you didn’t think to call me.”

“I figured it was handled. I’d have done the same thing myself, but they sort of don’t really listen to me. They call me ‘Young Blood’ and just do things the way they want. Which is usually the right way. Maybe except for the beer.”

“I won’t leave again while the work is going on,” Eva said.

“No offense, but they won’t take you much more seriously than they do me. Now Daniel, they’ll listen to him.”

At that moment, before Eva could fully process that
her
crew
would not listen to her, did not, apparently, respect her, Daniel pulled up in his truck, the back loaded down with plywood, tarp, and canvas. He and Bob started unloading immediately.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Daniel talked as he carried supplies past her. “But it had to be done. And now Bob and I have to get this temporary roof on before the rain starts, so please don’t pick a fight. Not now.”

Even as he spoke, Eva felt a sprinkle on her face. She didn’t say a word, just left them to it. Somehow the idea of her house being open to the elements made her earlier problem of the giant insurance payment from the morning’s mail seem not so huge. The budget was tight, but she’d pay her bills. She’d be fine financially. And if Daniel and Bob had anything to say about it, her house wouldn’t get too wet in the process. As she thought this, a larger drop splashed across her nose, and then another one.

Two more trucks pulled in just then, a couple crew members jumped out and hustled over to the ladders, climbing to the roof. Eva felt a little better as she watched them work at closing up the gap in her roof, even as the rain started to pour in earnest.

****

They’d secured the house, just in time. Things could have been a lot worse, would have been, without Daniel. Bob and Lily watched local news in the living room, which for now still had an actual roof.

Daniel wiped his tools dry with a rag at the kitchen sink, then put each carefully into an ancient toolbox.

“Thank you,” she said. He might not meet all the requirements of her dream lover, well, he met them all but one. The most important one. Still, he was a good guy. Not his fault he was tired of being tied down. Done being a dad.